Figurative Language
By Stefani
Imagery
page 515 - "In Flanders once there was a company of young folk, who devoted themselves to such follies as riotous living, gambling, brothels, and taverns, where, with harps, lutes, and guitars, they danced and played at dice day and night, and also ate and drank more than they could handle;" page 539 - "My holy pardon can save you all, providing you offer nobles or sterling coins, or else silver brooches, spoons, or rings." Personification page 527 - "There came a stealthy thief men call Death, who slays all the people in this country, and with his spear he smote the man's heart in two, and went on his way without a word." Metaphors page 515 - "And then would come the dancing girls, graceful and dainty, and young girls selling fruit, singers with harps, bawds, girls with cakes - all truly the devil's agents" page 519 - "For drunkenness is truly the tomb of man's wit and discretion." page 521 - "Gambling is the very mother of lies, and of deceit, and of cursed perjuries, of blasphemy of Christ, of manslaughter, and also of waste of property and time; and furthermore, it is a reproof and a dishonor to be considered a common gambler." page 539 - "And Jesus Christ, who is physician of our souls, grant that you will receive his pardon;" Similes page 519 - "You fall as if you were a stuck pig;" page 527 - "Together these three pledged their word of honor to live and die for each other, as though each were the other's own brother born." page 539 - "I absolve you by my high power - you that will make offerings- as clean and pure as you were born". Paradox page 515 - "For although I am a very vicious man, yet I can tell you a moral tale," Dramatic Irony Pages 533/535 - The part where the Pardoner is narrating how two of the rakes are plotting against the third, and vice versa is very significant dramatic irony. Two of the rakes plan to stab the third in the side, and the third one plans to poison the other two. The motivation behind this is simply their greed to get more gold. This is very important because it proves the Pardoner's point/theme that "The love of money is the root of all evil". |
Imagery
This quote that uses imagery is significant because through it, we indirectly hear of the things that the Pardoner frowns upon. This also paints the young people as rebellious and sinful, adjectives one typically wouldn't want to be associated with. Furthermore, the three rakes give off the impression that they are young (rude towards old man, also, one of the rakes s described as a "boy" instead of a man), so the fact that these young people are depicted in such a horrible manner foreshadows that the three rakes are not the most courteous of people This quote uses imagery in the sense that the Pardoner discusses the types of currency he will accept in exchange for his services. The things he wants are elaborate items, such as silver, sterling coins, and rings. This imagery is important because it shows readers that the Pardoner is a very greedy man. Personification Basically, this is important because this is the driving force behind the three rakes' motivation to kill Death and thus, their journey which ends up killing them all in the end. Additionally in this quote, Death slays people and goes on his way, which are human actions. This is where the personification comes in. Metaphors Similar to the quote above about the riotous young folk, this quote expresses the Pardoner's extreme dislike for all things remotely sinful. This is a metaphor because the Pardoner is relating these people to being "the devil's agents". Obviously, the people in this quote are not literally the devil's agents but the things they do are so bad, the Pardoner feels that their acts are worthy of hell. This is another quote that informs us of the evils drunkenness holds for the Pardoner. The fact that he is relating drunkenness to a tomb (metaphorical, but a tomb nonetheless), shows that drunkenness can easily cause death. It could also mean that a worthy punishment for drunkenness is death. This can be related back to his allusion to Atilla the Hun, who "died in his sleep, shamefully and dishonorably bleeding from his nose in drunkenness" (521). This quote is very significant because the anaphora just keeps building on the metaphors of what gambling is the mother of. The Pardoner is trying to say that only terrible, awful things can come from gambling, which is why it is a sin. The fact that he mentions "blasphemy of Christ" and "manslaughter" shows thst he is very serious about this. Those two things seem to be allusions to the ten commandments, including not taking God's name in vain and being forbidden to commit a murder. The metaphor included in this quote is important because the Pardoner doesn't say that he himself is the physician of their souls and that he will receive his pardon. By saying that Jesus is the physician of their souls, the Pardoner adds a touch of ethos to his speeches, which will make people think that the Pardoner is legit and that their money is being well spent. Similes This simile is in the context of the Pardoner discussing drunkenness. The purpose of him relating a drunk person to a stuck pig shows the disgustingness that comes from the sin of being drunk. Additionally, it can be inferred from this that the Pardoner believes that once a person is drunk, they are not fully aware of their actions and have the judgement equivalent to a pig. This quote is important because it shows how initially, the three rakes felt as if they were brothers and would even die for each other. Their true colors show through in the middle and end of the tale, however, when they all plot against each other (2 against 1). This part is simply ironic when one knows the rest of the story. This is an important simile because the Pardoner is preaching his worthiness to the crowd. He relates his power of cleansing to being as clean as when one was first born, a difficult feat to achieve. Paradox This is a significant quote because the Pardoner recognizes that he is a vicious, evil person. It is a paradox because one wouldn't expect a moral tale to be told by a person of such evilness. |